Too many sugary drinks for Aussie kids

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Too many sugary drinks for Aussie kids

New research from Perth's Telethon
Institute for Child Health Research shows that consumption of
sugary drinks is high amongst Australian children and adolescents
with the majority consumed in the home.

The research has been published online in the international
journal BMC Public Health.

Lead author Kate Hafekost said around 80 per cent of Australian
children drank sugary drinks which include carbonated soft drinks
(including energy drinks), juices with added sugar, cordial, sports
drinks, milkshakes/smoothies and flavoured milk.

"Not only was consumption of sugary drinks high in Australian
children, we also saw that the majority (77 per cent) were
purchased in supermarkets and 60 per cent were consumed in the home
environment," said Ms Hafekost.

"Less than 17 per cent of sugary drinks were sourced from the
school canteen or a fast food outlet, despite these sources being
the focus of many public health recommendations.

"These findings suggest that health messages should target
supermarkets as the key source of the sugary drinks."

The data was drawn from the 2007 Australian National Children's
Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, a representative random
sample of 4,834 Australian children aged 2 to 16 years.

The study team also saw differences in patterns of consumption
across different age groups and parental education levels.

"Older children tended to drink more carbonated and sports drinks,
while younger children drank more juice with added sugar and
cordial. While children whose parents had higher levels of
education consumed less carbonated drinks, these children still
consumed high quantities of sweetened juice and flavoured milk
which are still high in sugar," said Ms Hafekost.

The study team said parents and children need to be educated about
the consequences of high consumption of both carbonated and
non-carbonated sugary drinks as they contribute to obesity as well
as nutrition-related chronic disease.